Speech #810219388

Mr. President. on July 26. 1947. the Senate passed Senate Resolution 137 which directed the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. or any duly authorized subcommittee thereof. to make a full and complete investigation of our entire immigration system. Pursuant to this resolution which was subsequently amended and extended. a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary has. over the course of the last 21 years. been engaged in an intensive investigation and study and is today submitting to the Senate its report and recommendations. I feel that this is a most thorough study. In the development of this study literally tens of thousands of pages of testimony have been taken from our immigration officials. consular officers. and representatives of various organizations interested in our immigration system. The report not only gives a clear picture of the problems of immigration but goes further in pointing out the leaks in our present system. As chairman of the subcommittee. I am also introducing an omnibus bill which constitutes a complete revision of our immigration and naturalization laws. In the preparation of this omnibus bill the subcommittee has been materially assisted by the experts of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and of the Visa Division of the Departhient of State. This bill has not been hastily conceived. It has evolved only after careful study of the many complicated facets of our immigration and naturalization system and after thorough study of the hundreds of enactments which constitute the body of our present immigration and naturalization law. I sincerely feel that this proposed legislation. prepared from the findings of the subcommittee. is designed to eliminate the weaknesses in our immigration and naturalization laws and will put our immigration and naturalization policy on a sound basis. While the new bill embodies many of the provisions of the previous laws it also presents several major changes in policy which are: First. Simplification of the quota system. but maintenance of approximately the same basic formula for determining the number of people allowed to enter the United States. Second. Establishment of a principle of selection. within the quota system. that is geared to the economic needs of the United States. Third. Removal of racial discrimination by permitting quota immigration from Asiatic Pacific areas from which persons of certain races were previously excluded. Fourth. Tightening of the screening procedure for applicants for admission and clarification of deportation proceedings under which undesirable aliens may be deported. Fifth. Plugging of the loopholes in the present law through which subversive elements have been gaining admission into the United States. The bill further provides many important changes in naturalization. among which are: First. Provision for more thorough investigations of applicants for citizenship. Second.